


Man or Beast?

by castlealbion



Category: Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Genre: Adam is a great kisser, Adam is a very good teacher, Belle is overwhelmed, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Plot, Sensuality, That wedding night can't come soon enough, but tasteful, there is smut, wedding night is here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-09 05:00:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11097420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/castlealbion/pseuds/castlealbion
Summary: Since the curse was broken, Belle has been feeling a little overwhelmed with everything that has happened and wants a moment to breathe. Adam gives her that and more....





	1. An Evening of Celebration

The full moon was high overhead as you tossed and turned in the bed that had so quickly become your own. The past weeks had been a whirlwind of adventure, perhaps a little more than you had really been prepared for if you were completely honest with yourself. You had suddenly become the heroine of your own romantic novel, complete with magical creatures, villains and a handsome prince and the reality was somewhat more overwhelming than you would admit to.  
The noises from the castle outside the sanctuary of your room had long since ceased as your friends old and new took to their beds. No longer dusty, dark and crumbling, the castle was a sight to behold...vast in size and rich in design. The inventor part of you revelled in the beauty and form of your home, but a small part you almost missed how it was before. By no means did you resent the broken curse that had removed your friends from their household prison. Your heart swelled to see them happy, to see Chip running with Frou Frou, Lumiere dancing with Plumette and to witness them all enjoying their freedom. There was so much love in the castle, there always had been to a degree but it was so open now.   
No, what you missed was the quiet, the solitude of your weeks here with only those few for company. When your time was spent in books or conversation and the days stretched in contentment as you learned so much about the inhabitants of this incredible place.   
Now it almost seemed as though people swarmed all over and you felt both happy that all was well but a little selfish in wishing the castle and its inhabitants were still just...yours. You scolded yourself for your thoughts, you had never been a selfish person and you weren't now. But a feeling of….something….you couldn't put your finger on it. Something was off.  
It was the Beast, no you corrected yourself, Adam. He was Prince Adam now, human, handsome, wonderful. So why did you feel this way? So uncomfortable in the place you felt to be home. So tense and awkward when you were with Beas….Adam!  
That right there, that was what was bugging you. Mere weeks had passed and in that expanse of time you had been practically assaulted, held prisoner, discovered magic and curses, escaped from an angry mob, discovered your mother's fate and fallen in love...with a beast...not a man. So much to take in and come to terms with. The death of Gaston and the transformation of Adam notwithstanding.  
It was the Beast who had gifted you the library, who had thrown snowballs with you, had danced with you in an enchanted ballroom. His heart was the one that had touched you, it was his arms you had dreamed of when you felt alone and when you had been standing in that broken old windmill, staring at the broken pieces of your childhood it was him you had looked at and thought of home.   
Since the night the curse was broken a new factor had to be taken into consideration.   
Desire.  
In the moments after the curse was broken you had felt it and given into it. Your heart knew Adam and the Beast were the same, but your mind was having trouble coming to terms with these new feelings. Your heart skipped a beat and your breath caught whenever you caught a glimpse of the man but you almost felt unfaithful, your mind’s eye still seeing your Beast. It didn’t help that you had barely seen him in the last few days, either. There had been no moments of privacy or conversation. No touches, no kisses. Just being in the same space but not together while he worked so hard to put everything to right again with the village and himself. After so many years of misery and darkness you knew he was trying to adjust as you were. You also knew somehow that he was aware of your struggle, or at least of your distant feeling. His blue eyes radiated patience and a little hurt when he looked at you.   
Throwing off the covers you paced to the open window, looking out into the night, pensive and anxious. You loved him so much you thought your heart would swell and burst in your chest and you ached every minute of the day for him. Prince or Beast you wanted to feel safe in his arms, needed him to drive away this empty feeling you had when he was out of your sight.   
A celebration was planned for the next day and the final preparations kept you busy till late afternoon. The castle was spotless and stunning, everyone was dressed in their best finery and Adam had spared no expense, no doubt remembering the parties that had helped to set the curse in motion initially. You stood in front of the mirror in a stunning white dress, almost not recognizing the figure staring back at you. Alone for a few minutes you sucked in a deep breath as tears pricked your eyes. Perhaps a good cry was what you really needed, a release of all the emotions built up inside you. Forcing deep breaths you managed to fight back the threatening torrent, there would be time for tears later.   
A knock at the door drew you from your thoughts and you couldn’t hold back the gasp or shiver that escaped when Adam walked through.   
He came up short a foot inside your room, his lips curling into a smile and his eyes running over you in a way that made your toes curl and your stomach flip.  
“Beautiful.” he whispered, stepping toward you.  
You felt your cheeks turn red as you lowered your eyes to focus on the bright blue of his coat rather than his eyes.   
You wanted him to crush you to him, to tell you he was still him, still your Beast, that everything was going to be ok. Instead he walked over to your bedside and picked up the book laying there.  
“This again, really?” he snorted as he held Romeo and Juliet and for a second you heard him. You imagined him rolling his eyes dramatically as he had done before and a tiny laugh slipped out. Glancing up, you looked at him flicking through the pages, really looked at him for the first time since that night. As he scoffed at this and that you saw the line of his mouth, turned down at the corners the same as the Beast, his shoulders rolled with the same motions and for the first time you realised he even carried himself the same way.  
Your gasp was audible and he rushed over as you sank to your knees.   
Your head had finally caught up to your heart. Adam was the Beast, the Beast was Adam and a flood of emotion rushed through you.  
“Belle! What is it?” his voice surrounded you and despite the higher pitch you couldn’t understand how you had failed to hear that it was the same damn voice. How could you have been so foolish, and so blind?  
“Adam. Beast.” you murmured into his coat as he gathered you into his arms.   
“Ahhhhhh, I see.” he whispered against your forehead, pressing his lips gently to the skin there.  
“I’m so sorry. I was so confused and so..”  
“Overwhelmed?”  
“Yes.”  
“I understand, it’s not an easy thing being human again for me either, I’m having to remember how to manage a lot of things differently.”  
His fingers sat beneath your chin, tilting your head so you could look him in the eyes, the same eyes that you had so loved before. His lips curved in a soft smile as his fingertips brushed across your cheek.  
“I’m sorry too. I’ve been absent for days, so consumed with trifling things that I thought I needed to get out of the way so I could just be with you without interruption. I sensed you were struggling and I should have simply hidden us away from the world like I wanted to.”  
“I was wishing things could be like they were before….when it was really just us here. It was selfish but I thought that if we could just be alone then I could come to terms with what I was feeling.”  
‘You fell in love with a Beast.” he smiled softly, “Then suddenly you had a man. Truth be told I would have been surprised if you came to this easily.”  
“I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and the whole thing would never have been real. Even now I wonder if he was real and it breaks my heart to even think that.”  
“Oh Belle, my love.” he took one of your hands in his, leading it to rest over his heart. You could feel the strong, steady beat against your palm. “Do you feel that?” you nodded. “That is the beat of his heart, as well as mine as they are one and the same. He was as real as I am now and like him, this heart beats only for and because of you. You saved him, saved us from an eternity of loneliness and pain. He is still me and I am still him, only the outer shell has changed.”  
“I know that, my heart knows that, my head needed some time to catch up. I missed you, him, us.”  
“I’m a fool.”  
“True.” you both chuckle. There is was, that same camaraderie and humor, the easiness flowed back and you felt comfortable again sitting on the floor in his arms.   
“I’m not letting you out of my sight again, I promise.”  
“Even if I’m reading Romeo and Juliet?”  
If his eyes had rolled any harder they would have left his sockets. You couldn’t help but laugh hard as he over acted his dislike.  
“What is it with you and that book? There are so many better things to read.”  
“It’s the book that brought us together.”  
He stopped rolling his shoulders instantly. “How so?”  
“When you were laying in your bed and I was talking about Shakespeare and you acted just like you did now. It was the first moment I really saw you, not a Beast, or a cursed Prince, but you, stripped down and honest. It was from that instant that I began to fall in love with you.”  
“Well then.” he leaned down, gently pressing his lips against yours. “I guess we shall have to get every copy we can find.”  
“Even one in Greek?” you chuckled.  
“Especially one in Greek.”

There was cheering as you descended the staircase to the ballroom minutes later. Your smile was wide as you looked out at the human faces of the people you loved and some who were starting to come around to a better way of thinking. Adam lived up to his promise and never left your side, one hand always touching you in some way. Watching him like this was like seeing him for the first time, you didn’t think of him now as either man or the Beast, he was simply Adam and you loved him. The evening flew by in a whirl of music and light, a sensory overload with him as your center, your anchor. You were happy.  
Later you watched him laughing with Cogsworth, his blue eyes flashing and his teeth shining. There was that breathlessness again, the feeling that came when your very fiber acknowledged how gorgeous he was, and that he was yours. Your eyes watched his long fingers sliding around a goblet and your mind’s eye responded with an image of them tracing patterns over your bare skin.   
“Belle?”  
You shook your head to clear your thoughts as you realized someone was speaking to you. Before you turned your head you caught Adam’s glance over the rim of his glass, a piercing, almost predatory look that made you realize he had guessed the nature of your thoughts. Your cheeks burned as you turned away to address your companion, feeling his eyes on you.  
A hand came around your waist suddenly causing you to jump.  
“I believe this is our dance, my love.” he smirked, taking your hand and leading you out to the floor.  
For a time you moved together, only your hands touching, yet somehow even that small caress seemed so much more. You knew what this was, welcomed it. The feeling of being swept away was intoxicating and you felt almost drunk as you both moved through the steps of the dance.  
“Are you feeling ok?” Adam’s tone was knowing and assured.  
You tried to fight through the fog to any semblance of control over yourself.  
“How would you feel about growing a beard?” It was meant to be a teasing comment.  
His eyes flared as he chuckled then fixed you with a stare.  
He growled.  
Growled.  
While smiling.  
Actually growled, deep and with feeling.  
A wave of heat shot through your body, head to toe, your heart hammering in your throat and your stomach at once. Your knees turned into rubber, buckling under you and only a quick thought let you stop before you hit the floor.  
His smile was still in place as he brushed his lips across your hand, gently tugging you back into a standing position. One look at his face showed you he had missed nothing. You couldn’t look away as the dance drew to a close, his gaze held you in its grip, his smile never wavering. The music stopped, signaling the end of the ball and for several minutes you were distracted by goodbyes and thank yous.   
No one would let you help tidy things up and slowly everyone made their way to their beds, leaving you alone in the ballroom.  
Or not.  
The candles had been snuffed and only the light from one candelabra remained, moving slowly out of the shadows toward you, in Adam’s hand.  
For a moment you wondered if perhaps this was how a rabbit felt when it was being stalked by a wolf. You felt like prey.  
You liked it, enjoying the shiver that ran up your spine.  
“Come.” He took your hand and directed you up the stairs and towards the East wing.  
You climbed in silence, the only light coming from his candles, his thumb tracing circles over the back of your hand.  
Your heart beat so hard and fast that you were sure he could hear it, his smile told you he knew exactly the state you were in.  
The door to your chamber loomed in front of you now and he let go of your hand, moving to stand behind you. As your fingers grasped the door handle he spoke, his voice low and gruff.  
“I’m afraid I have to break my promise to you Belle.”  
He stood so close that you could feel his breath on the back of your neck as he leaned down, his lips pressing against the bare skin of your shoulder.  
The breath rushed from your body in a whoosh.  
“I have to let you out of my sight for the night.”  
No he didn’t, you thought as his mouth trailed toward your neck.  
“Why?” you managed to sigh, unconsciously pressing your back against his chest.  
“Because, my darling girl…” His teeth nipped at your neck, causing you to moan. “If I keep you in my sights tonight, I’m likely to eat you alive.” You felt his small laugh before his open mouth closed onto your neck, his tongue sliding across the spot he had nibbled at.  
“Adam.” Your arm snaked up, your hand sliding across the back of his neck, holding him against you.  
“Say my name again.” His voice was raspy and beastlike, his tongue tracing the outline of your ear.  
“Adam.”  
He lifted his head, pressing his nose against your cheek.  
“I like that, hearing my name on your lips.”  
“I love you, Adam.” Your heart swelled.  
“I love you too, Belle.” he whispered roughly before covering your mouth with his own.  
Where before there had been tenderness and wonder, now there was passion and want, desire and need. His tongue slid across your bottom lip and your teeth before tracing along the length of your own. With a moan, stifled by his kiss, you responded in kind, your every nerve ending buzzing as your lips and tongue learned the shape and feel of his mouth. Another growl rumbled in his chest when your teeth caught his bottom lip, nibbling and licking as he had done to your neck.  
In that moment he wrenched himself away and you turned sideways, facing one another, both breathing heavily, wide eyed and wanting.  
“I have to say goodnight, Belle.” he managed to pant, his eyes blazing.   
“I know.” You whispered. “I don’t want you to.”  
“God!” he groaned loudly, stepping forward.  
The candlestick was set on the floor before he pounced, the length of his body pressed against yours as the door held you up. His fingers tangled in your hair, pulling it loose from its pins, his lips crushed against yours, hard. Your arms wrapped around his torso, crossing over his back, holding his as close as you could. His chest rumbled as lips met and tongues danced.  
Here was the Beast.  
Long minutes passed in rapture as Adam practically devoured you, lips teeth and tongue blazing hot trails down your neck and across your collarbone. You felt your lips bruising and swelling but didn’t care. Only this mattered. Only him. You wanted him closer, aching with a need you didn’t yet know how to express or even quantify. Your back arched of its own accord, pressing your body closer to is.  
“We. Have. To. Stop.” Adam panted against your neck.  
You nodded, but made no move to unwrap your arms from around him.  
He laughed softly, sliding his hands from your hair, his forehead against yours.  
“I want nothing more than to follow you inside that door.”  
“I know.” Your throat was dry and your voice sounded so hoarse you barely recognized it.  
“When we are married.”  
“Soon.”  
“Very soon.”  
He pressed his lips against yours gently, before taking a step back, your arms falling by your sides. You watched him pick up the candlestick.  
“Goodnight.”  
“Goodnight, my love.”  
You waited until even his shadow had retreated before opening the door, finally sliding into bed moments later, arranging the pillows and quilt to imitate his presence beside you.   
Somehow you knew that in another part of the castle he was doing the exact same thing.   
You ran your fingers over your swollen lips, before closing your eyes with a smile.  
“Soon.”


	2. Reprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We have a wedding night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've written plenty of smut in the past but this one didn't sit too well at first. Then once it got started it took on a life of its own. I blame Dan Stevens.

The day dawned fresh and bright for your wedding. Flowers bloomed everywhere the eye could see and from your tower window you watched birds searching for their morning meal. Dusk was the appointed time for the ceremony, a small party planned for after...a fraction of the size the last celebration had been. Both you and Adam had been adamant that this most important of events be spent only with those closed to you, your loyal and beloved friends and your father.  
Humming under your breath you dressed and ate from the tray Mrs Potts had left. Your hands shook as they smoothed your skirts and tied your boot laces. You weren't afraid, far from it in fact but the fact remained that today….and tonight….would change you forever.  
The early morning sun was streaming into the library, you knew Adam would be there, sitting in the window like a cat. He sought sunlight and warmth now and after so many years in the cold and dark of the curse, you more than understood why. Looking around, you found him, stretched out on a chaise placed in the window just for him. For a moment you simply watched him, the sunlight glinting off his golden hair, his lips pressed together in concentration as his eyes scanned the words on the page. He forwent the garb he had once demanded as his former self, instead he was almost always to be seen in simple breeches and a billowy shirt. Stockings and shoes were reserved for meals or walking outdoors and waistcoats and jackets only donned for company.  
He had completely left that prideful, preening part of himself behind and instead was content to be a simple man who took pride in his people.  
“You know we aren't supposed to see one another before the ceremony.” he chuckled without looking up from his book.  
“ Do you really believe in that?” you queried, climbing the ladder to the landing where he lay.  
“It's tradition, but to be fair I think we have exhausted our share of bad luck for a lifetime, don't you?”  
He sat up long enough for you to take a seat before laying back down, his head resting in your lap.  
“I think it's all good luck from here on in.” you smiled down at him.  
“Well since we are throwing caution to the wind, will you read?”  
Taking the book from his hands you looked at the spine with a chuckle.  
“Shakespeare? This is getting to be a theme.”  
“At least it isn't Romeo and Juliet. Besides, I guess a little romance doesn't hurt.”  
He smiled widely up at you and your breath caught. Adam’s eyes were bluer than the sky outside the window and as a man, he was quite simply the most beautiful creature you had ever seen.  
Opening the book of sonnets you turned to your favorite and began to read, even though you knew it by heart.  
“Let me not to the marriage of true minds  
Admit impediments. Love is not love  
Which alters when it alteration finds,  
Or bends with the remover to remove:”  
Absently the fingertips of your free hand traced over his jaw, revelling in the feel of his stubble. He had not gone so far as to grow a beard, and despite your initial joke about it you were glad. You had to admit that the feel of his rough jaw against your skin sent shivers down your spine every time.  
“O no: it is an ever-fixed mark,  
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;  
It is the star to every wandering bark,  
Whose worth’s unknown, although his  
Height be taken.”  
Absently you caressed the line across his forehead, threading your fingers into his hair. You stopped reading at Adam’s slight shudder, your fingers stilling in his hair. The past weeks had done wonders for your comfort with one another, Adam no longer avoided the tough of others and in fact many times acted rather like a puppy when you touched him, which delighted you to no end.   
After so many years of being denied even the most basic of human touches, Adam now leaned into every one of yours with relish and you were in no mind at all to deny him any enjoyment.  
There had been no repeat of the interlude you had shared the night of the celebration ball, not from a lack of want, rather more because of. The feelings that had stirred between you had not abated and if anything you found that you longed for a repeat, to feel his lips against your skin, his hands. Oh you had laid awake so many nights imagining just how that night could have finished, wishing that you would hear his knock on the door to your room in the dark hours of morning.  
There had been moments, of course. Whispers in corners, stolen kisses in the library and long days like this, reading, with always some part of you touching him. Such comfort and security as you had never felt before.  
His voice took up where you had trailed off, apparently he too knew this one by heart.  
“Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and   
cheeks  
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;  
Love alters not with his brief hours and  
weeks,  
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.  
If this be error, and upon me prov’d,  
I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.”  
You smiled down at him in the sunlight as his hand lifted to graze your cheek. Leaning down, you pressed your lips against the bridge of his nose.  
You were rewarded with a growl, much like he had given you that evening, a sound that sent a jolt through your body to settle warmly in your belly.  
“I can see us like this, years from now.” He murmured, wrapping a strand of your hair around his finger. “Sitting in the sunlight, reading to our children, our grandchildren.”  
“Can you see my grey hair and lined face?” you laughed.  
“You will still be just as beautiful to me as you are now, even more so because of a full life together.”  
Tears gathered in the corners of your eyes as you pressed your lips to the palm of his hand.

“There you are Dearie! You know you aren’t supposed to see one another before the wedding!”  
You and Adam both flew up from the chaise looking guilty as Mrs. Potts dashed into the room.  
“Come along, Belle, time to get you ready.”  
You descended the ladder with a sheepish look back at Adam.  
“Will it really take 6 hours to get me into a dress?” you laughed as she took your hand and pulled you from the room.  
“It might, but there’s also a bath various other things to take care of, so hurry along now.”

It really had taken 6 hours, you thought later as you looked at yourself in the mirror. And 6 hours well spent, if not a little awkward.  
The gown was exquisite, simple as you had hoped, a stunning, graceful fall of bright blue with gold embroidery. Adam hated white now, the color reminding him too much of the parties he had once hosted. You would wear no veil, no extra trappings, nothing at all that would remind anyone of the life once led. This was a new life now.  
Mrs. Potts had taken it upon herself to act as your mother and your bath and subsequent drying had consisted of a conversation about what to expect later that night. After reminding her that you had, in fact grown up in the country and that you weren’t ignorant of the mechanics she simply laughed.  
“There’s a big difference between knowing a thing, and experiencing it, my dear.” she tutted as she brushed your hair. “It can be very overwhelming.”  
“I’m sure it will be,” you knew that to be true, his kisses alone left you breathless and trembling. “But I believe I shall manage well.”  
Mrs. Potts drew her lips together as if she had something unpleasant on her mind.  
“You know of course that, before….before the curse,” Mrs. Potts broke off.  
You understood immediately.  
“I understand, he had….lovers.”  
“If you can call them that.” she muttered.  
“In my reckoning his experience should make things go a little more smoothly.” your cheeks flamed, you didn’t like to think of Adam’s past, but in this case the idea was….strangely intriguing.  
That thought stuck with you for the rest of the afternoon and by the time you stood on the stairs by the gazebo you were in a quiver of excitement and anticipation. Adam stood there, looking splendid in his pale blue coat, his golden hair tied back with ribbon his smile wide.  
Everyone you loved stood around him and as you walked toward him they each handed you a white rose, a symbol of everything that had led you both here to this place. Such a rocky and terrifying start, to have such a happy and wonderful ending.  
You gave your vows in a daze, smiling and crying the whole way through. When Adam slid his arm around your waist and pressed his lips against yours you felt as though there was nothing on the earth that could ever be happier or more perfect that that moment. You were his wife. For better or worse, and forever.  
The evening party came and went in a whirl of laughter and dancing and before you knew it the candles had been doused and you stood with Adam outside the doors of your new suite.  
There was an awkward silence between you, a thick whirl of tension in the air. You shivered as his breath brushed your neck, his arm reaching across you to push open the door.  
“I hope you like it.” he whispered against your ear.  
“As long as I am with you.”  
“With me you shall be.”  
The tone in his voice caused a tremble to run down your spine. With him. Visions danced in your head as he followed you through the door. Visions that would soon become a reality.  
Very soon.  
The room was stunning in its simplicity, he had worked hard to make it perfect. Your father had been put to work painting a mural of summer trees and white roses along the walls which were interspaced with well stocked bookcases. A large canopied bed occupied the space in front of a large window, draped with royal blue and gold fabrics. A fireplace stood waiting for wintertime with rugs and chairs nestled snugly beside.   
“I don’t think I will ever want to leave!” you exclaimed, looking around in delight.  
His arms came around your waist, his nose grazing the bare skin of your shoulder.  
“If you like we can at least hide away here for a few days, I don’t know that I will be willing to let you leave.” His voice was deeper than usual, more as it had been in the early days.   
“Do you intend to make me your prisoner then?” you breathed as his lips pressed against your neck.  
“A willing one I hope, and a rather more lovely cell than before.”  
You allowed your head to fall back onto his shoulder as his teeth worked at your earlobe, his fingers trailing down the length of your arms to tangle with your own.  
“Very willing I would say.”  
With a groan Adam’s lips found yours, stealing your breath and bringing your heart to pounding in your throat.  
He devoured, took and gave in return. Your fingers left his to reach back and tangle in his hair, your skin breaking into goosebumps as his tongue slid across your bottom lip. You had wanted this, a kiss like this, a touch like the one moving across your shoulders. You wanted so much that you couldn’t put into words.   
His fingers met at the laces for your gown, pulling them free with practiced ease all the whispering in your ear.  
How much he loved you.  
How beautiful you were to him.  
How happy you had made him.  
Your gown loosened, you turned to face him, your fingers pulling gently at the snowy cravat he wore. You hated it, you told him so now as you struggled with the knot.  
Adam chuckled, grasping your hands in his and placing them at the buttons for his waistcoat. He, naturally, had the cravat untied in moments while your fingers shook against the fabric of his clothing.  
He noticed and his eyes shone with concern and desire both, boring into yours with an intensity that made you shudder.  
“If it's too fast we can sit for a while.”  
You shook your head. It wasn't too fast, it was your concern that your inexperience was going to make this...awkward. You wanted to stop thinking, to stop overanalyzing and just feel.

“We can wait, I won’t mind. We can read.”

You looked at him, standing a foot away. His cheeks were slightly flushed, lips swollen. He looked at you with such love, need and concern. The snowy cravat twisted in his fingers as his front teeth worried his bottom lip. He would do anything for you, no matter what, but what now the only thing you needed from him was to take control and ease your anxiety.

With a split second flash of intent, you stepped forward, thrusting a hand into his hair and pulling him down to you. You pushed all your need, want and love into your kiss. It was your tongue against his lips and teeth as you pressed yourself against him, never close enough.

His arms came around you and he groaned against your mouth, loud and low enough for you to feel the rumble of it in his chest. A shiver of delight ran through you as his lips met yours measure for measure, slowly easing himself into control. Your fingers untied the ribbon in his hair, tangling through the strands.

He broke away gently,his cheek resting against yours, his breath warm and ragged in your ear.

“You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” he whispered, growling under his breath when you tugged at his hair.  
Pulling his head back he gazed at you, his hands sliding over your shoulders, knuckles running up and down your neck.  
There was a question in his blue eyes, a look of desire and even fear. Even now, a part of him still feared rejection, and loss. The Beast, your Beast, still lived on inside him. Your answer came as your fingers trailed over his jaw, down his neck and under the collars of his coats. Your palms slid over his shoulders and arms as the fabric slid away, leaving him standing in much the same condition as when you had first seen his human form.

His own hands followed suit with your gown, his eyes flaring as the silk pooled on the floor at your feet, leaving you in only your shift and a petticoat.

There was a moment, two deep breaths where time stood still and then…. He scooped you up in his arms like you were a feather, carrying you swiftly over to the bed. You were deposited on the edge so carefully and gently before he knelt on the ground at your feet.

He looked up at you with a smirk as his hand slid over your ankle, sliding off first one shoe and then the other. Rising up slowly, his fingertips blazed a trail up the back of your calf, your knee and the outside of your thigh. Lips marked damp spots along your shoulder and up your neck before crushing against yours in a kiss so full of want that it stole your breath away.

Wrapping your arms around his waist you pulled him with you as you fell back, giggling when he broke his kiss long enough to position you both fully on the bed, before capturing your mouth again. Languidly he pressed at your lips, opening them so he could slide his tongue deep into your mouth. Moaning into him, you felt the smooth, warm, wetness of his tongue stroking over yours, the heat and weight of his body as it pressed down onto you. Your hands tugged at his shirt, freeing it from his breeches so you could stroke the smooth skin of his back.

Adam shivered and growled as your palms caressed his bare skin, pressing his lower body more firmly against you, his hand on your thigh moving higher, adjusting your leg to cradle his hips. Your remaining clothing now felt cloying and cumbersome against your skin and you almost itched to have it removed, to be able to breathe, to feel his skin against yours. Almost desperately you pushed his shirt up his torso, unable to put into words what you wanted from him.

He knew, his lips brushing their way to your ear, his fingers easing apart the laces of your shift to expose more and more skin. 

“God, I want you.” his voice was low and raspy in your ear, strands of his hair falling over your neck.

He rose over you, thumb rubbing your bottom lip, eyes catching yours. The intensity of his look made you shiver, your whole being ached to be closer, though you suspected that with Adam, you could never be close enough to ease the ache.

“Adam.” you murmured, your body moving restlessly beneath him. “I...I…”

“Shhhh.” he whispered, sliding the sleeve of your shift off your shoulder, fingertips following the path of newly bared skin across the swell of your breast, down the front of you to your waist and back again.

“This petticoat is in my way.” he chuckled. “Don’t move.”

He rose up, your hands slipping from under his shirt to lay helplessly on the duvet. Smirking, he pulled the shirt off over his head, tossing it to the side.

“That too.”

“Your eyes raked hungrily over his bare skin, golden in the candlelight. The muscles in his arms rippled as he unlaced your petticoat, pushing it down your hips. The offending garment found its way into a heap on the floor alongside his shirt.

Adam’s eyes blazed over you, from your bare thigh to your face, a languid look of heat and want that made your insides clench and your cheeks flush. He moved over you, catching your hands in his and lifting them above your head. His look could only be described as predatory...beastlike, his teeth bared in his famous smirk as he pounced.

On a gasp your breath was stolen as his lips came down on yours, tongue filling your mouth as his lower body pressed against yours. One hand held your arms in place, his other clutching at your thigh, hitching your leg over his hip. You shifted beneath him, the few inches that he held himself above you seeming like an ocean of separation. 

His hips ground against you, his palm sliding over your waist, ribs and bare shoulder. You felt him, the hard length of him pressed between your thighs, still not close enough, but sending a dull throb of pleasure throughout your body.

Your back arched as his palm pushed aside the fabric of your shift, closing over your bared breast. You sucked in a ragged breath as lips and tongue traced the line of your jaw up to your ear. He sucked the lobe into his mouth gently, his fingertips grazing the swell of your breast, nipple hardening under his touch.

“I want you so much.” He growled in your ear, his teeth nipping at your skin. “Do you want me?”

You wanted him. For the first time in your life you truly understood desire, and need, at least the physical aspects. You had needed Adam when he was still a beast, wanted his presence, his voice, his arms. With Adam it was all that and still more. You wanted his skin on yours, his hands and his mouth, his body inside you. You wanted to give him every part of you and take every part of him in return.

“Yes.” you managed on a moan, his breath loud and hot in your ear, his fingers stroking and plucking at your aching breasts. “Yes Adam, I want you. I love you.”

“I love you too, my Belle.” he murmured, freeing your hands, which came to rest on his shoulders.

You felt emboldened by the look in his eyes, the love, the desire and the invitation. Pushing at his shoulders you manoeuvred him onto his back, straddling his hips to feel his length hard against that one aching spot. Even through his breeches you could feel the heat of him and you ground against him slightly, rewarded by the sharp hitch in his breath and the purring rumble from his chest.

His hands slid under your shift, palms stroking the bare skin of your thighs. He watched as you drank in the sight of him. His golden, smooth skin, the scattering of darker hair across his chest and down his stomach. You allowed your hands to explore his torso, the hard lines and soft, warm skin. He moaned when your fingers played with the hair on his stomach, his back arching when you traced a line from his navel to the laces of his pants, dipping under and back again.

He muttered your name under his breath, eyes widening when you pulled your shift off over your head, leaving you completely naked to his hot stare.

“Good God!” he groaned as you felt a twitching movement beneath you.

A feeling of purely feminine satisfaction came over you as you leaned forward, tasting his neck with your lips and tongue, biting gently at the flesh of his jaw, then sucking his lower lip between yours.

“Belle, Belle, Belle…” he almost chanted your name as your hand slid boldly down between your bodies.

The laces of his pants were simple compared to that ridiculous cravat and your fingers took seconds to loosen them. Adam was practically panting, his hands stroking your bare back, along your spine. You brushed your lips across his, your fingers following the dark trail of hair. You felt the heat of him, his back arching as your fingertips traced his length. You reveled in the way he moaned against your mouth, his fingers tangling in your hair, holding you against him. Your breasts grazed against the roughness of his chest, shivers of pleasure running through you.

You ached between your thighs, an empty, yearning aching that you instinctively knew could only be eased by the feeling of him inside your body. Your hips rocked against him, your fingers exploring but unsure of what you needed to do to progress to that point.

“Adam.” you moaned against his tongue, breath ragged. “Adam….what…”

The question remained unspoken as he let you pull away. You took one another in, swollen lips, flushed cheeks and hooded eyes filled with need. His hands shifted, one gently easing yours from his pants while his other arm wrapped around your back and waist. He smiled, a wolfish, predatory smile that sent a shudder through you. Before you knew what had happened he had pulled you over and under, your back hitting the bed with a whoosh of breath as he came down on top of you, holding your arms above your head.

His mouth closed over your breast, tongue raking hot and wet against your aching nipple. A cry left your throat as he started to suck gently, sharps points of pleasure shooting down between your legs where his length ground against you. Hie free hand pushed his pants down until he could kick them off, his nakedness against yours feeling so….right.

His mouth worked magic on your breasts, alternating licking, sucking and biting as you writhed beneath him. His hand slid from your ankle, up the inside of your leg, pushing your thigh down to open you wider beneath him.

“Adam!” it was your turn to pant his name as his long fingers moved between your thighs, stroking gently until he found the hidden spot where your aching want lay coiled. One finger rubbed and slid over that tiny spot as your toes curled in absolute ecstasy. The aching deeper inside began to throb insistently, bringing with it a feeling of heat and damp. At that, you saw him smile against your skin, his fingers moving down, thumb stroking while one fingertip teased the entrance to your body. For a moment you were embarrassed as his fingers slid in the wetness that had escaped you, until with a groan and a muttered ‘yes’ he slid one finger inside you.

Your eyes flew open, back arching with a cry of pleasure and desperation. Your hips writhed against his invasion, wanting still more. Adam licked and kissed his way up to your lips, letting your arms go. Your fingers threaded into his hair as he drank from your mouth, thumb stroking, finger moving slowly in and out of you. 

He was met with a mewling whimper as another finger joined the first, stretching you slightly, moving deeper. It felt so good, but you still wanted so much more. You arched against his fingers, begging for something you didn't have words for.

Adam chuckled against your mouth, his teeth scraping across your lips.

“Easy, my love. This can’t be rushed.” his fingers moved leisurely, keeping you on the edge of….something.

“Adam!” His fingers curled slightly inside you, sending shockwaves through you.

From head to toe, your skin felt as though it was humming, vibrating. You wanted to burst.

“Please...Adam…..please.”

His fingers stilled ass he heard the pleading in your voice, the desperate need.

“There’s so much more my darling.” he whispered gently.

“I need….I feel like…”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes!” your answer was loud and raspy as he shifted himself fully over you, fingers pulling away and leaving you feeling even emptier than before.

You pushed your hips against him, begging. He nodded, his expression one of tenderness and adoration.

“It will hurt.” he whispered. “I wish I could spare you that.”

“Only for a moment.” your hands cupped his cheeks, thumbs grazing over his lips. “I trust you.”

The amazement that was etched across his features brought tears to your eyes. Still, after everything, Adam still found it hard to believe that someone could care, could trust, could love him. He continued to wrestle with the man he had once been and the beast he had become. He had whispered to you one evening by the fire that he felt unworthy of your love, of anyone’s after the way he had treated people for so long. You would make sure you spent the rest of your life ensuring he knew that he was loved and trusted, unconditionally.

You nodded your head, pulling him down to kiss him gently, your arms wrapping around his neck, fingers stroking the smooth, warm skin of his back. He moved slightly, hard heat nudging at your entrance. As his hips pushed forward slightly you gasped against his mouth. There was no pain yet, but the size of him inching inside you felt impossible and incredible. For a moment you felt trepidation, mixed with a feeling of completeness and pleasure you could not have even begin to describe. He felt you tense and stilled, looking down on you with wonder and concern.

“It’s better if I do this part fast, it won’t hurt you as much. Just watch me, don’t take your eyes off mine.”

With a deep breath you relaxed, staring into his bright eyes as though he was your lifeline. Which he was. Fingers moved between your bodies as he adjusted and your hips rocked slightly, bringing him further inside you.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry darling.”

With a loud, animal groan he pushed forward hard, breaking through the barrier quickly.  
A tear escaped at the sharp pain, worse than you expected and you had to fight the urge to buck him off of you. He lay still, buried deep inside of you and the pain receded into a dull throb as you regained your breath.

He kissed you again murmuring apologies against your skin. You could feel the tightness of his body as he fought his natural urge to move. You felt sore, but not pained and even that sensation was quickly being overtaken by another one as you raised your hips experimentally.

Adam hissed as you moved, sweat beading on his brow with the exertion of trying not to hurt you any further. He moved inside you, just a tiny thrust and waves of pleasure radiated throughout you. You didn't feel that ache, that emptiness anymore but rather, full, stretched and whole. It was pure bliss. It wasn't enough.

“Let go, you won't hurt me.”

To encourage him you shifted your thighs open wider, causing him to slide in even deeper, his palm sliding over your sweat dampened skin to pull your leg over his hip. That movement tilted your hips differently bringing him closer as though you could feel the burn of him all the way into your stomach.

Hands slid down his back, tracing the line of his spine. He smiled gently, testing as he pulled back, leaving you panting, your body not ready to relinquish the sensation of him inside you. He slid forward again slowly, too slowly but this time you could fully enjoy the feeling of him filling you without the pain. There were no words that could describe the sense of completeness, the mind numbing pleasure of having him inside you. But he was torturing you, keeping you on the edge, always wanting, aching and needing.

“Belle.” he growled, leaning over you, his elbows resting above your shoulders, his hands tangled in your hair.

He positioned his body flush with yours, the roughness off his chest and chin rasping against your heated skin as he began a rhythmic rocking motion in and out of you.

“Oh.” you breathed in wonder as every smooth thrust of his hips brought you to new heights.

You wrapped your arms around his waist, pulling him even closer, almost his full weight on you. Your lips found his as you tried to drink in the taste of him on your tongue. Hips rose and fell together, instinct drove you as your fingers ran over every inch of his skin that you could reach.

He growled in your ear, his shoulders shuddering as your fingers ghosted over his hipbone. When your hands clutched at his rear his whole body clenched up, his teeth grazing your neck.

“Oh darling...heaven, you are heaven.”

The movement of his hips was faster now, less controlled, his lips kissing wetly across your collarbone as you both panted and moaned. Heat radiated from inside you, from him, from every inch of his body that touched you. Your eyes fluttered shut, heels digging into the bed as you pushed up to meet his every thrust.

One hand left your hair to slide down the front of you, palming your breast before trailing to where your bodies met, easing his fingers between your thighs he stroked, sending hot shivers throughout you.

“God yes!” he purred against your neck, your muscles clenching around his length.

Your fingernails dug into his skin as you writhed beneath him, the pace of his thrusts becoming erratic, faster and more powerful as he lost control.

You never wanted it to end, your toes curled as his fingers worked magic, the deep, hot slide of him inside you setting fire to your senses.

“Adam!” His name was ripped from your throat as a pressure built, radiating from between your thighs, encompassing every part of you, every nerve ending, every hair on your head exploding as waves of bliss and release surged through you.

Your back arched high off the bed, muscles clenching and relaxing as stars seemed to burst behind your eyelids. Adam’s breath was hot against your skin as he moaned and growled harshly in your ear.

“Yes...Belle.”

His body stiffened with one last hard jerk of his hips, his mouth mashing against yours as he cried out against your tongue. He shuddered and you felt a rush of wet heat inside you.

You held him tightly as his head collapsed against your shoulder. Fingers traced patterns over damp skin. You felt his breath return to normal along with yours and the air began to feel cold on your bare skin. You shivered, clutching him tighter. His head lifted, long golden hair tickling your skin. Your fingers found their way to his face, tracing the lines of his jaw, his cheeks even his nose, giggling when his teeth nipped at you playfully.

Your heart swelled with so much love for him you felt certain there was no way to contain it.

“Tell me I didn't hurt you.” his thumb was trailing through the tear that had escaped.

“No. Adam, you didn’t hurt me. I'm just so happy and I love you. “

He kissed you gently, smiling down at you.

“I love you too. That was…..amazing.”

Your cheeks burned as images of your lovemaking flashed in your mind. Adam chuckled at the sight.

“I never expected it to be quite like that.” you admitted, shivering again.

Deftly, Adam shifted from you, repositioning your body under the duvet and curling you in snugly beside him.

“That was just a taste, my love. There's so much more that we can explore together.” he whispered in your ear. “I did mention that I planned to keep you as my prisoner in this bed.”

“I believe I said that I would be willing.” you smiled, stroking his chest.

“Well the,” he smirked. “Let's talk about what I can teach you next.”


End file.
